My Rusty L320 Build

[delariva]

Good job on the tunnel  :thumbup:

 

I would find a bench seat for a 320 if you can find one, it will give you the most leg room, bucket seats just don't work unless you are a short person.

Thanks Wayno. I like the look of bench seats more in these older trucks anyway, more leg room is a bonus. I'll see if I can find one eventually.

 

Those 720 hub will probably work with Mike K's front disc kit. A nice clean update & U need more stop with the L-Series engine.

That's why I went to get those hubs, it was the only yard that had the correct donor vehicle for his kit anywhere close to me. I have been looking at his website at the kits he sells since I bought the car. The next section I plan to work on after I finish taking care of the rust repairs is the brake system. A lot of the hard lines are cut, and it's going to need a complete overhaul. I figured while I am running new brake lines I might as well upgrade the front to discs. 

[delariva]

I got the files out and was getting ready to turn the rod down and thread it to fit, and realized it would be easier to just weld the new shift lever to the old levers base. Only took about 15 minutes and worked great. I don't know why it took me so long to come up with that idea over paying a machine shop, or filing it down for hours. 

 

 

[difrangia]

Chek out the brake & shop up-dates that we did on our 320 on this page for 'Mighty Mouse'.

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/64874-mighty-mouse-engine-rebuild-upgrades/page-9

[difrangia]

Oops !!

 

Previous post was supposed to read brake & shock up-dates.

 

Senior fingers.

[delariva]

Chek out the brake & shop up-dates that we did on our 320 on this page for 'Mighty Mouse'.

 

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/64874-mighty-mouse-engine-rebuild-upgrades/page-9

 

Great job on the shock mounts! The front disc kit looks great too. Your build thread is going to come in handy, there is a lot of good info in it. Thanks for sharing. 

[Charlie69]

Mike's disc brake kit is a master piece of engineering.  He does so much research and development that when he sales a custom part you know it will fit, no adjusting to make it fit like other after market parts.

[delariva]

Mike's disc brake kit is a master piece of engineering.  He does so much research and development that when he sales a custom part you know it will fit, no adjusting to make it fit like other after market parts.

 

I can't speak for his kits yet, but if they are as thoroughly thought out as his videos I am sure they are great. I have watched a lot of his vids, and learned a lot from them. 

[delariva]

I did some grinding on the floor and door jamb last night to weld the patch that was filled with spray foam. I hit some more body filler and knew it wasn't going to be good.

 

 

 

I was pretty frustrated that a riveted piece of sheet metal covered in body filler was someones solution to this mess, and called it a night. Ill get back to bending sheet metal and welding soon.

[Charlie69]

I purchased one of mike"s early disc brake kits and put it on my 66 520.  It fit like a glove.  Had 1 problem with the stock wheels though with new brake pads the wheels barely with the caliper (scraped).  I put 1/8" spacers and fixed that problem.  Yes the spacers were made by Mike.  I ended up changing out the chassis to a 1980 720 chassis and the disc brake kit is now on Gene Knights 521 named Grimace.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

I did some grinding on the floor and door jamb last night to weld the patch that was filled with spray foam. I hit some more body filler and knew it wasn't going to be good.

 

 

 

I was pretty frustrated that a riveted piece of sheet metal covered in body filler was someones solution to this mess, and called it a night. Ill get back to bending sheet metal and welding soon.

It's funny how many times you see that kind of repair on older vehicles. My suspicion is that in the years to come, the home-owner repairs will get better and better simply because of the tools that are available these days. Anyone can buy a MIG for under $500 now and sheet metal shaping and cutting tools have become regular tools in the box.

[delariva]

That's true, I haven't thought of it that way, but I think you're probably right. That will be good news for these old rust buckets. 

[delariva]

started repairing some of the rust damage today.

 

 

 

 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Looks great, like you're really getting the hang of it.

 

One word of caution: don't grind away all the weld. I know this sounds pretty obvious, but if you only weld the outer surface, then grind it all off so it's smooth, it will crack over time. If you can't get to the backside of something to weld, then leave a gap when fitting the panels and fill it as you weld. Be careful there too though, the gap can close up and shrink during welding. Take your time and spot weld the gap.

 

Good work.

[delariva]

Looks great, like you're really getting the hang of it.

 

One word of caution: don't grind away all the weld. I know this sounds pretty obvious, but if you only weld the outer surface, then grind it all off so it's smooth, it will crack over time. If you can't get to the backside of something to weld, then leave a gap when fitting the panels and fill it as you weld. Be careful there too though, the gap can close up and shrink during welding. Take your time and spot weld the gap.

 

Good work.

Thank you, and thanks for the tip.

On the upper part of the repair, where I ground it down smooth. I have a piece of sheet metal plug welded behind it, then a gap about the same as you can see on the left in the picture (where I haven't welded yet). If that gap is welded then ground down pretty smooth like I did, do you think that is ok, or will that potentially crack?

[delariva]

Off topic a bit Matt, but I just saw the 4WD magazine article on your range rover. That is awesome! I've never seen an old range rover before, I really like it. I used to have an 89 Toyota with the 22RE. Great work on that build. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Thank you, and thanks for the tip.

On the upper part of the repair, where I ground it down smooth. I have a piece of sheet metal plug welded behind it, then a gap about the same as you can see on the left in the picture (where I haven't welded yet). If that gap is welded then ground down pretty smooth like I did, do you think that is ok, or will that potentially crack?

As long as there was a gap to begin with, ti should be ok. There is one down side to MIG welding on body panels though, it is a harder weld and it is more likely to crack than a TIG or oxy/acetylene weld, but that's really taking the worry to the extreme.

 

Off topic a bit Matt, but I just saw the 4WD magazine article on your range rover. That is awesome! I've never seen an old range rover before, I really like it. I used to have an 89 Toyota with the 22RE. Great work on that build. 

Thanks! I built that truck about 12-13 years ago with one goal in mind: budget. We did use some good pieces like the Longfield axle shafts and the new OEM Toyota electric lockers, the gears and all that, but mostly it was just labor. I bet I had less than 300 hours into the initial build. The mindset during the build was to build it as the factory may have, hence the tall/skinny tires on stamped steel wheels, etc. Most people never catch the 5" exhaust tip coming out the rear bumper, but I did that mainly as a joke.

 

Also funny how with all the super clean stuff that comes out of my shop, most people know me as "that Rover guy". But then, it's the only one I've ever seen on the trail. Kills me when people call it a Land Cruiser...or a JEEP.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Here are a couple pics of the Rover on Barrett Lake Trail last fall. That trail has been closed for about 5 years so it was pretty rough, but the Rover just soaks it up. It's not comfortable, but it does everything I point it at.

 

 

 

[delariva]

I love it. I've never seen anything like it, so I can see why you're the Rover guy haha. 

[delariva]

Speaking of Jeeps. I have to do some work on mine, so the last two days I haven't been able to work on the 320. With some luck I may have an hour or two to get some work done on the fun project tonight. 

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

To keep a project rolling, they say you should do something every day, even if it's just looking at it.

[delariva]

I was able to get a pretty good start on the quarter panel last night. I'll take Matt's advice when I don't have time to get any work done though. I'll at least make time to go out there and curse at it for not being drivable yet ha. 

 

[Charlie69]

Great patch work!

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Smoothing out that front lower corner of the weld is going to be challenging. You could probably do it with a small disc sander or a small drum sander.

[delariva]

Smoothing out that front lower corner of the weld is going to be challenging. You could probably do it with a small disc sander or a small drum sander.

I have been using a 2 inch flap disc to take down most of the welds. Hopefully that can get in there without too much trouble. 

 

Great patch work!

Thanks! The back of the quarter panel is what has been taking the most time, and tweaking, to get it to fit. Most of the lower section (where the bolts fasten the panel to the cab) was already rusted away, and the rest I had to cut out. I got it really close last night though. 

[delariva]

I went fly fishing Saturday and Sunday, so I didn't get as much done on the 320. I did finish fitting the quarter panel and tapping new bolt holes. I like the way it fits now. It was just hanging from the upper bolts before and was warped quite a bit. I finished taking the driver side down to metal after I took these pics. I just need to do a little more hammer/dolly work on a few spots, then I can move on to the passenger side.